Modern communication networks connect a wide variety of end devices, or “nodes,” including computers, printers, telephones, audio/video equipment, household appliances, etc., and the list continues to grow. In addition to such end nodes, communication networks require a variety of other node devices, e.g., routers, switches, servers, etc., to carry out the conveyance of communication signals from one node device to another. Network node devices rely on steady, even power to operate properly and poor power quality, e.g., overvoltage and undervoltage, surges, transients, etc., can wreak havoc on a network. In cases where such power-related problems affect servers, routers, or switches, network communications can fail, which can be devastating to certain organizations.
As the number of different nodes connected in a network increases, so too does the number of pathways through which electrical energy surges and transients can propagate. Electrical surges and transients traverse not only power lines, but communication signal lines as well. Increasingly, organizations and individuals alike are installing equipment that limits exposure of network equipment to damaging energy carried in both power and communication signal conductors. While protective devices against short duration surges and transients are ubiquitous, many of these devices do not offer any protection against longer duration events, such as overvoltage and undervoltage conditions.
In addition to potentially damaging transients, additional measures are often taken to reduce, if not eliminate electrical noise in network equipment. Many commercially available surge protection devices include some power conditioning by which electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio-frequency interference (RFI) are filtered from the supplied power. Typically, these devices have a plug or other terminal connection for connecting to an alternating current (AC) source and several outlets or other terminal connections at which individual load devices are connected to receive conditioned power. Certain of these power conditioning devices also include communication jacks by which communication cables can be connected through signal line surge protection and conditioning mechanisms contained within the power conditioner/surge protector. An inherent drawback of these conventional power protection devices is that the cables carrying conditioned power and communication signals from the power protection device to the network node device are once again exposed to an environment that may contain EMI/RFI sources.
Given the range of different undesirable and/or damaging power and signal conditions in communication networks and the many points of potential failure at which poor power and signal quality can adversely operate, ongoing development efforts seek ever more robust power protection and conditioning solutions to an ever-widening set of problems.